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Coignice
Coignice is a miller's daughter in Eastern Kolyma who fell in love with Prince Cedric and married him. She gave birth to Valanice. They allowed their daughter to be educated, although they found they had to remind her not to play in mud. Coignice once told her daughter a story about nectar and ambrosia. Background There once was a miller who had a beautiful daughter--a daughter so beautiful that he pridefully thought she should be the bride for the king. One day the miller was delivering flour to the castle and, noticing the king nearby, began to to boast about his daughter. The king listened politely, but everyone tells kings that their daughters are the fairest in the universe. "Ah," invented the miller, "but my daughter can spin straw into gold!" Now this got the monarch's attention, and he commanded that the girl be brought to him. The next day the king put the poor girl in a large room full of straw and commanded her to turn it to gold. The miller's daughter didn't know what he was talking about, for her father had not told her of his lie. Angry, the king threatened her, telling her that she had till dawn to change the straw or she would be killed. Try as she could, the task was impossible. The girl could not do what her father had promised, and began to weep loudly. As she cried, a little man appeared and told her he could do the chore--if she would give him a gift. He took her necklace, turned all of the straw into gold, and then disappeared. The king was astonished, but demanded more proof of her skill. He took her to a larger room and filled it with straw, promising the same punishment if she failed. Again the little man came; this time he accepted her ring for the service and again left. When the king saw all the gold the next day, his heart did not soften towards her; instead, he filled his largest hall with straw and demanded one last magical transformation. If she succeeded, she would become his queen. This time, she had nothing to give the little man, so he demanded she give him her firstborn child in return for saving her life. She agreed, but planned never to have a child. The queen did have a child, however, and one night the little man came to claim it as his own. In tears the queen offered the man anything if he would not take her child. He replied that he would not, but only if she could guess his name within three days. For two days she guessed, but she was always wrong. In desperation, she sent her servants throughout the land to discover the little man's true identity. One was successful; he said he had discovered the man dancing and laughing by a fire. He called himself Rumplestiltskin. When he came back that night to claim the child, the queen pretended still not to know the proper name. Reaching for the baby, the little man gave her one final guess. He was so mad when she told him "Rumplestiltskin" that he stomped his foot hard enough to send him right through the floor, and he was never seen again.KQC2E, pg Non-Canon The Silver Lining Revenge of the Black Cloak Society The Forgotten Captives Real World Coignice is a character who is mentioned in the King's Quest Companion by Peter Spear. External Links *King's Quest Omnipedia Category:King's Quest Characters Category:KQC Characters Category:KQ Human Characters Category:KQ Commoner Characters Category:Daventry Royal Family Members Category:Inhabitants of Eastern Kolyma Category:Needs Images